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The London Road (2019)

Documentary photographic series of London Road, Southend in 2019.

 

There aren't many people about today and the shops are closed; it's Easter Sunday. Tiled floors, padlock security, parked cars. But it's 20 degrees in Southend and it's buzzing. Clear blue skies and the first proper sun of the year.

London Road is over five miles long. The singular nature of the shops reflects the diverse needs and whims of the community. Chris' Toy Box & Bouncy Castle Hire. Denture Laboratory. Danceland at Dalby's. Some shops close and reopen a few plots down the road; Juniorz and Gentz, Hollywood Hounds. Others, like the Blockbuster Video Express that shut in 2013, never reopen. Some of the owners are comrades, others fierce rivals. Specialists, traders, Bombay Blues, Les and Gary's, Des and Barry's.

As off-licences see out the day and pubs welcome in warm locals, I walked from east to west, down the London Road towards the city with the sun in my eyes. As it sets, adjusting to the nightlife.

 

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